Grant Expectations

By Liz Ratchford; Keystone College, Director of Grants 2016 Susan Kemp Conference Scholarship Recipient Like many of my fellow grant professionals, I did not start off my career in the grant world. I don’t think any of us when asked as a child what we wanted to be when we grew up answered: “grant professional!” But through what I consider … Read More

By Amy Knudsen, MA, GPC; Planned Parenthood of the Heartland 2016 GPC Scholar During my senior year in college, I assisted in writing my first federal grant for an education program I developed while working at a homeless shelter. I could not have predicted that experience would have led me to where I am today, with 25 years of grants writing … Read More

by Lucien Darjeun Meadows, Fort Collins Museum of Discovery 2016 Membership Scholar As I write this blog post today, on a much warmer-than-average morning in Northern Colorado (52 degrees!), I am in the midst of training for the Quad Rock 25/50 Trail Race in Fort Collins, in May. I am also in the midst of finalizing a major foundation proposal, … Read More

By Becky Jascoviak, GPF Silent Auction Team Coach Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” The individual “parts” that make up the Grants Professional Foundation are pretty incredible on their own, but put a group of passionate, service-oriented, step-up-to-the-challenge grant pros together on a team and you get a whole lot more “whole” to the individual … Read More

By Carolyn Caldwell, GPC; Raising Awareness, Raising Funds, LLC 2016 Membership Scholar We all write proposals and complete applications as part of our daily work, so what makes applying for a scholarship from the Grant Professionals Foundation different from the rest? In my case, completing the application for a membership scholarship from GPF required me to think hard about my … Read More

By Teri S. Blandon, GPC, CFRE; Vice President for External Relations, PAI The 2016 election caused massive disruptions to many people, personally and professionally. As I work for a women’s reproductive rights advocacy organization, the election results caused us to pivot quickly. Immediately, we had to pull back our annual appeal letter (which was at the printer) and completely rewrite … Read More

By Bethany Turner, GPC of bmtconsulting GPC Scholar When I first learned about the Grant Professional Certification (GPC) through a #GrantChat, I knew I wanted to become a GPC. About a year ago I earnestly started preparing to sit for the GPC exam. I was fortunate to receive a scholarship from the Grant Professionals Foundation. This gave me a definite … Read More

The Grant Professionals Foundation Board received the following thank you letter. The author preferred to remain anonymous, but agreed to let us share it on our blog. Dear Kimberly and the Board of the Grant Professionals Foundation, After 15 months of working as the full-time grant writer for my organization, I am only just beginning to self-identify as a grant … Read More

By Nancy Battersby 2015 Leadership Member Scholar, St. Louis Chapter Early in my career, a mentor surprised me by referring to our agency’s work with our clients as the “ultimate transaction”. As employees, many of us thought we were performing selfless work that benefited others. My mentor pointed out that we were receiving unsuspected rewards from our work, probably in … Read More

Every Chapter Challenge By Susan Caldwell, CFRE, CGW One thing I have learned about grant writing – there is always something new to learn. The world of grant writing is not a place that we want to walk alone. From government grants to corporations to foundations, developing a grant proposal can be complicated, labor-intensive and full of twists and turns. … Read More